The first heat was a cracking race with a 50.89 through the bell and 1:18.20 through 600m. Former world indoor champion Wilfred Bungei led into the straight and stretched out in the last 100m. He won in a fast 1:44.90, with defending champion Yuriy Borzakovskiy close behind in 1:45.15, and looking strong. Third went to Nadjim Manseur of Algeria in 1:45.62, which gave him an excellent chance of one of the eight fastest-losers' spots.

The second heat saw world indoor champion and world leader Abubaker Kaki control the pace. The 19-year-old led through the bell in 53.59 and 600m in 1:200.91 and controlling the race superbly, showed a good kick to win in 1:46.98. Mohammed Al Salhi was a clear second in 1:47.02. Third placer Russia’s Dmitriy Bogdanov was unlikely to get near the fastest losers spot with his 1:47.49.

The third heat was the most competitive race so far. Britain’s Michael Rimmer led through 400m in a slow 55.89, then Poland’s former world medalist Pawel Czapiewski kicked hard into the lead to pass 600m in 1:22.07 and four swung into the straight together.

The Pole held the lead until just before the line when Athens runner-up Mbulaeni Mulauzdi and Rimmer passed on the outside. Just .05 seconds covered the three, with Rimmer (1:47.61), Mulauzdi (1:47.64) getting the automatic spots, and Czapiewski (1:47.66) and the Spaniard Miquel Quesada (1:48:06) getting eliminated due to the slow pace. The last lap was a fast 51.7 for Rimmer.

In heat 4 Nick Symonds followed the leader Eduard Villanueva through the bell in 53.08. The Venezuelan kept the pace going through 600m in 1:19.55 before the American eased by into the finishing straight.

Symonds came under pressure in the last 100m but showed his usual strong kick to win in 1:46.01 to hold off world champion Alfred Yego, who timed 1:46.04. Spain’s Antonio Reina's 1:46.30 put him well up the fastest-losers' spots at the halfway stage.

In the fifth heat, Dmitrijs Milkevics led through 400m in steady 53.32 and 600m in 1:20.03 before world silver medalist Gary Reed kicked by. He looked safe for victory but he tightened up slightly and was passed by fast-finishing Manuel Olmedo of Spain (1:45.78) and Ismail Ahmed Ismail of Sudan (1:45.87). Reed, who recently set a Canadian record of 1:43.68, was going to have to rely on his time of 1:46.02 for a fastest-losers' spot.

Milkevics, twice fourth in the World Indoor Championships and European Championships, achieved his usual place, but his 1:47.12 probably wasn’t going to be quick enough for a further race.

The sixth heat started slowly and Brazil's Kleberson Davide led past the bell in 54.32 before Amine Laalou of Mauritius picked the pace up through 600m in 1:21.86. He controled the last 200m to win in 1:47.86 with fellow World Championships finalist Abraham Chepkirwok (1:47.93) just behind.

Christian Smith was only sixth down the backstraight and though he finished quickly he never looked like making the top two. His time of 1:48.20 in fourth meant he would not progress to the next round.Heat 7 was a similar slow pace, with Yusuf Saad Kamel (son of double world champion Billy Konchellah) leading through 400m in 54.69 and 600m in 1:20.87 with Abdoulaye Wagne on his shoulder. The Kenyan-born Bahrainian was unable to move away down the straight and Mohammed Al Azemi from Kuwait and the Netherlands' Robert Lathouwers caught him on the line. All three were timed at 1:46.94, but the latter was going to have to rely on his time for qualification.

Also likely to be out but moving into the last fastest-losers' spot with one race to go was Andrew Wheating. The youngster ran a naïve race and though finishing faster than anyone, he came from too far back and finished fourth in 1:47.05.

The final heat was bad news to a lot of the earlier races as new Cuban star Yeimar Lopez set a quick pace of 52.76 and 1:19.78. Seven runners were in contention as they hit the straight. Former 400m star Lopes, whose PR is 45.11 and has run 1:43.07 this year, won in 1:45.66 over Kenya’s Boaz Lalang (1:45.72). The Kenyan just got the automatic spot, but such was the closeness that Nabil Madi (1:45.75), Marcin Lewandowski (1:45.89), Belal Mansoor Ali (1:45.95) and Sajad Moradi (1:46.10) all made it through to the next round on time.

Nick Symmonds: "That was exactly what I wanted. I wasn't sure if I
would feel good or flat, but that felt real good. I had the accleration
I wanted to get to the lead, then I had to re-acclerate again. I'm
going to need that kick tomorrow. I had an awesome seven weeks of
training to get ready for this. Some people can criticize me and Gags
for not going to Europe, but today I felt a hundred times better than I
did last year in Osaka. Tomorrow I'm going to leave everything I've got
on the track. The last seven weeks have been the best training of my
life. I started off like a distance runner, and started sharpening just
before I left Eugene for China. I had one of the best speed workouts of
my life before I left. I did what I needed to do to come here
re-charged after the Trials."

Christian Smith: "It was awesome just to stand on the track in this
Stadium. I can't compare it to anything but a big football game. I
wanted so badly to get to the next round. But the race was slow and I
couldn't close on the leaders at the end. I tried to get up with them
but we had a couple of 1:43 and low 1:44 guys out there. After the
Trials I went to Europe expecting to race and train well, but I didn't.
When I got home at the end of July, I got back on it. The big goal for
the year was just to get here. This is the first international
competition I've been in. I hope it goes better next time.
Andrew Wheating: "I should have reacted better. The first quarter was
slow and I wasn't ready when they went from 53 pace to 49. I expected
that to happen with 300 to go, not at the quarter. They got away, and
then I had to work hard to creep back up on them. I didn't have it in
me to catch the top guys. It's been a long season. It started January
8th. I wish I had been mentally stronger for this tonight, to give it one
more shot. But I didn't have it today."